Taiwan's pseudo "Defense Minister": European sanctions won't affect Taiwan's arms procurement
Reuters reported on April 27: Taiwan's pseudo "Defense Minister" Ku Li-hsiung stated on the 27th that sanctions imposed by China on seven European companies for selling weapons to Taiwan would not affect deliveries.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced on the 24th that seven European companies were banned from exporting dual-use items due to their sales of weapons to Taiwan. This is a relatively rare instance of China imposing sanctions related to Taiwan on European entities.
The majority of Taiwan's weapons come from the United States. Europe has long exercised caution to avoid provoking China, and has refrained from selling fighter jets and other major military equipment for approximately 30 years.
Ku said: "I don’t believe these measures will undermine our ability to procure supplies through various relevant channels." However, he provided no further details.
Four of the seven companies listed in China’s new sanctions are Czech firms. Meanwhile, regarding the possibility of Taiwan obtaining weapons from Japan in the future, given the Japanese government’s recent review of its arms export regulations, Ku stated: "Japan’s target countries for arms exports are limited to those with defense equipment and technology transfer agreements signed with Japan, and Taiwan is not among them."
When asked whether it might be possible to import weapons from Japan in the future, he replied: "We cannot rule out any possibilities in the future, but we can only say there is none at present."
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1863597518579716/
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